Arnab Barik

Viral vectors and stereotaxic injections Mice were anesthetized with 2% isoflurane/oxygen before and during the surgery. The craniotomy was performed using a handheld micro drill. The viral injections were administered using a Hamilton syringe (10 μL) with glass-pulled needles. The viral injections (1:1 in saline) were 300 nL, infused at 100 nL/min. The mice were initially anesthetized with 5% isoflurane and secured to a stereotaxic instrument (David Kopf Instruments, USA).

Behavioral assays Request a detailed protocol Behavioral assays for the same cohorts were handled by a single experimenter. Prior to experimentation, the experimenter was blinded to the identity of animals. The genotypes ana/or the mice with AAV1 injections were randomized within cohorts wherever possible. Mice were habituated in their home cages for at least 30 min in the behavior room before experiments.

Abstract Neurons in the LHA are critical drivers of behavioral and physiological responses to acute and chronic stress. However, the roles of the specific pre-synaptic inputs to the LHA in driving stress and resultant physiological effects are yet to be fully understood. Here, taking advantage of mouse viral genetics, rabies tracing, optogenetics, chemogenetics, and fiber photometry, we show that the excitatory projections from the RVM to LHA drive stress-induced anxiety.